It is being claimed from multiple pages and IDs of the social media Facebook that the central bank of the country has released 1000 notes of Argentina’s currency peso in the market with Messi’s photo added. The posts also included a picture of a note resembling a bank note with a picture of Messi. Which is not true.
Not only social media but the information has been published in several newspapers in different forms. Media reports claim that the country’s finance ministry has proposed adding Messi’s image to the currency in honor of his World Cup achievement. It has also been mentioned that the proposal has been ridiculed in some media.
Fact Check
BOOM Bangladesh has verified that the claim is not correct and has also been confirmed by the Press Sector of the Central Bank of Argentina that there is no such currency circulation.
Source of confusion
After a search in a Spanish-language Mexican newspaper called ‘El Financierio’, an article titled “Tendremos billete de mil pesos con la cara de Messi por el título de Argentina? (Will we have a thousand-peso bill with Messi’s face for the Argentine title?) The news can be found, which was published last December 19. In the report, the media reported on ‘sources’ that the country’s central bank is considering a proposal to introduce coins in Argentina with the image of Lionel Messi. The media also mentioned that the proposal to print a 1000 peso coin with the image of the country’s currency was made. In a funny way’.
El Financier also cited the media outlet Bloomberg in its acknowledgment of this news. After searching, the information was also found in a Bloomberg report published on December 16 in Spanish titled “Ni La Scaloneta se salvaría del cepo cambiario en Argentina: Mercado Sin Bozal (Not even La Scaloneta would be saved from the exchange rate in Argentina: Mercado Sin Bozal) (Not even La Scaloneta would be saved from the exchange rate in Argentina: Mercado Sin Bozal)”. has been found
In this report, the information is written on the personal account of the reporter Ignacio Olivera Doll, the offer was made ‘informally’. Incidentally, the report was released before the Qatar World Cup final between France and Argentina and the report does not include the image of the currency note with Messi’s image. Reporter Ignacio Olivera Doll also posted a screenshot of the information on his Twitter on December 17. On behalf of Boom Bangladesh, Ignacio Olivera Doll has yet to respond when contacted for comment.
Originally, El Financierio’s report was published as gossip in British tabloids such as The Sun and The Daily Mail. These reports have also added the banknote-like image discussed on Twitter. In fact, the information and the image spread widely on Twitter and Facebook shortly thereafter.
Argentina does not print banknotes with the image of Lionel Messi
When BOOM Bangladesh contacted the Central Bank of Argentina, Banco Central de la República Argentina (BCRA), through a journalist from Chequedo, an Argentine fact-checking organization registered with the international fact-checking network IFCN, their press sector received any information regarding the circulation of such notes. Confirmed no.
That is, no note was introduced or offered. Chequedo also published a fact-check report on the matter. The Central Bank of Argentina (BCRA) senior manager of communications, Fernando Alonso, later confirmed to BOOM that the claim was false.
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